Law enforcement agencies provide officers and agents with an assortment of devices—electronic and otherwise—to carry out duties required of a law enforcement officer. Such devices include radios (in-vehicle and portable), weapons (guns, Tasers, clubs, etc.), body-worn audio/video recorders, portable computers, and the like. In addition, vehicles such as cars, motorcycles, bicycles, Segways, etc., are typically equipped with electronic devices associated with the vehicle, such as sirens, beacon lights, spotlights, personal computers, etc.
It is increasingly common for law enforcement agencies to require officers to activate cameras (body-worn and vehicle mounted) that enable officers to record audio and/or video of incidents in which an officer is involved. This provides a way to preserve evidence, that would otherwise be unavailable, for subsequent legal proceedings. A lack of such evidence could make it difficult or impossible to investigate criminal activities, identify perpetrators of crimes, examine allegations of police misconduct, etc. But there are times when an officer fails to or is unable to activate a camera to record an incident. Valuable evidence, then, can be lost.
It is also desirable in many circumstances that devices are used in certain ways when particular actions occur. For instance, in a situation where an officer detects gunshots fired, it may be desirable to activate a device to alert nearby officers to come to the vicinity where the shots were detected. Usually, the officer detecting the shots fired will use a device, such as a radio, to notify nearby officers of the situation. But in some instances, the officer is unable to perform such a task.